Justin Timberlake's bullying pain

The 'SexyBack' singer, who lends his voice to a geeky King Arthur - known as Artie - in new movie 'Shrek 3', says he related to his character because he was not considered cool at school.

Justin told the USA Today newspaper: "Artie's sort of a nerd. He is told his whole life that he's a loser, so he doesn't believe in himself, doesn't believe he can be the king. He's got to get confidence. He's not cool, you know?

"We can all relate to adolescence, when nobody's cool. I have my moments.

"I used to get picked on all the time. I had terrible acne, weird hair. My arms were too long."

The 26-year-old's former lover Cameron Diaz also voices a character in the animated film. The couple split in January after four years together.

Justin said: "The fact that she's in it is still exciting to me. She's an amazing woman and an amazing actress, and everybody in the film is so good at these characters. I hold a huge amount of respect for everyone in the film, including her."